Ridler Award and ‘The D Lot’ Highlight Upcoming Detroit Autorama

The industry-renowned Ridler award will be announced Sunday, Feb. 26, during Detroit Autorama, set for Feb. 24-26 at the COBO Center in Detroit.

Detroit Autorama famously attracts the world’s top builders and cars all vying for the legendary Ridler award. While these handcrafted works of rolling art take center stage, there is another side to the show to explore: The D Lot.

In its fourth year at Detroit Autorama, The D Lot (as in Detroit) will transform 6,000 square feet of the show floor into a display of vehicles designed or built by Murray Pfaff of Pfaff Designs. The booth is presented by Pilot Transport.

The centerpiece of The D Lot is a 20-by-20-foot stage showcasing over $30,000 in prizes donated by top brands in the performance aftermarket. All the proceeds raised from the $2 raffle tickets to win the merchandise will be donated to Forgotten Harvest, a food rescue nonprofit that was formed in 1990 to fight two problems: hunger and waste.

Last year alone, Forgotten Harvest rescued over 42-million pounds of food by collecting surplus prepared and perishable food from 800 sources, including grocery stores, fruit and vegetable markets, restaurants, caterers, dairies, farmers, wholesale food distributors and other Health Department-approved sources. This donated food, which would otherwise go to waste, is delivered free-of-charge to over 250 emergency food providers in the Metro Detroit area.

“All of us in the car hobby are very fortunate to be able to build and have fun with our dream cars, while so many in this country can’t even afford a basic meal,” said Murray Pfaff, organizer of The D Lot. “Therefore, it’s important to give back any time we can. It was upon this very sentiment that The D Lot was created.”

“The D Lot is a wonderful example of community coming together in a creative way and joining us in our fight against hunger and food waste," said Forgotten Harvest CEO Kirk Mayes.

Pilot Transport has sponsored The D Lot for four consecutive years.

“We are proud to be an integral part of this fun and worthy production—Murray really pours his heart into this attraction every year,” said Joe Parks, general manager of Pilot.